


Of Sound Mind

by AXEe



Series: Head Games [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Insane Asylums, Referrences to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Trigger warning for mental illiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-10-23 17:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 16,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10724004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: Alex has been on Cadmus' trail for months, she's finally found them, finally found evidence of Jeremiah...except the next thing she knows she's waking up to find that she's a patient in a mental hospital, where she finds that the only person who seems to have any answers is one Dr. Astra Inze, which can't be right, because Astra is deadIsn't she?





	1. It's a Madhouse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [snow_lily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/snow_lily/gifts).



> Hello! More General Danvers fic from me! Now a warning here, this story focuses on mental health issues, I'm trying to make it as sympathetic as possible to those who truly do suffer from mental health issues, so I apologize if I have inadvertently offended anyone. Now, that being said, please enjoy :=)

******

_Alex ran, sprinting down the darkened corridor. She risked a glance back, two of Cadmus’ goons were still hot on her heels, she ran faster, pushing her body to the limit, this was her only chance, she had to find her father, she had to get him out, get him home._

_She grunted as hands suddenly grabbed her, squeezing tightly even as she kicked and squirmed, she suddenly felt dizzy, lightheaded; did they drug her with something? Everything was getting blurry, and there was a rushing sound filling her ears, and her body felt heavy, achy all over, her muscles screaming in protest._

_She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out…_

******

“Ms. Danvers?” Alex blinked at the voice “Ms. Danvers?” it repeated, slightly more insistently. Weakly, she opened her eyes, cringing at the bright light that suddenly stabbed into them, she groaned and turned her head, trying to lift an arm to shield her eyes, only to find that she couldn’t, why couldn’t she lift her arms? She wriggled, finding that she couldn’t lift her legs either. Panic started to wash away the drowsiness and she kicked and squirmed “now, now, keep calm, Alex,” she jerked her head towards the voice, recoiling at the sight of Lillian Luthor standing over her “we wouldn’t want another relapse, now would we?” Lillian continued even as Alex fought against whatever was holding her down

“Mrs. Luthor!” a familiar voice snapped “you’re upsetting her,” Alex watched as Kara came into view, strangely dressed in a pair of blue hospital scrubs “I’m going to have to ask you to leave before she _does_ have another relapse” she continued. Lillian scowled at Kara, but finally nodded

“Very well, nurse. See that I’m informed of her progress won’t you?” she requested, somehow making it sound less like a request and more like an order

“Of course, ma’am,” Kara nodded, watching as she left, there was the sound of a door closing and Kara sighed in relief “meanie,” she muttered, turning back to Alex “how are you feeling?” she asked softly

“Kara,” Alex shook her head, still tensing against the restraints “what’s going on? Why are you _working with Lillian Luthor?_ ” she demanded, Kara sighed

“I think I’d better get the doctor,” she said, she reached out and squeezed Alex’s hand “just stay calm, all right? It’s going to be fine” Alex tensed, but willed herself to keep calm as Kara disappeared from view. She could hear her quietly talking to someone, presumably over the phone, since she couldn’t hear any response, and then Kara came back in view “the doctor’s on her way” she said

“Kara,” Alex groaned “I don’t need a doctor, I need to get out of here! Come on! With your powers you could have thrown Lillian across the room and gotten me and Jeremiah out of here in seconds!”

“I don’t have any powers, Alex, remember?” Kara said gently, Alex stared at her as the door opened

“Ah, she’s awake, good,” a strangely familiar woman’s voice said “I’ll take over from here, nurse” she continued

“Yes, doctor” Kara nodded, she turned to leave, sparing Alex a sad glance before turning and leaving

“Well, now, how are we feeling, Alex?” Alex blinked as a woman with long curly dark hair with a streak of white in it came into view

“Astra?” she asked, the other woman nodded, smiling

“Good, you remember me,” she nodded towards Alex’s prone form “now them, if I un-strap you, do you promise not to try and attack me again?” Alex tensed but then willed herself to relax “all right,” Astra nodded “that’s good,” she swiftly unhooked the straps holding Alex down “easy,” she warned firmly as Alex sprung up into a sitting position “it took a lot of pleading and groveling to get Lillian to avoid putting you in the rubber room,” she explained “let’s not end up there again, all right?”

“What the hell is going on?” Alex demanded as she looked around; finding that she and Astra were in a small, empty room with only one door. The only pieces of furniture was the gurney that Alex had been strapped to and what looked like a monitor for vital signs. Turning back to Astra, Alex blinked in surprise, instead the black catsuit she’d seen Astra in last, the other woman was wearing a pair of torn blue jeans with a pair of equally torn and battered sneakers, which seemed to be longing for the release of death and were only being kept alive by several strips of duct tape. In addition to the blue jeans and sneakers, Astra was wearing a faded green t-shirt with ‘I’M GREENER THAN THIS T-SHIRT’ on it in white letters

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Astra asked, holding up a clipboard and a pen

“What?”

“The last thing you remember,” Astra encouraged “come on, come on”

“Uh, I was after Cadmus,” Alex began “I was running down a corridor, they were chasing me, and then…I woke here,” she looked up as Astra scribbled something down on the clipboard “didn’t expect to see you here, General” she muttered, Astra sighed

“I’m not a general, Alex, I’m a psychiatrist, remember?” she looked up at her, smirking “and you have no idea what I’m talking about do you?” she shook her head as she sat down on the bed next to Alex “all right, let me fill in the blanks for you, you’re a government agent right? You work for the ‘Department of Extra-normal Operations’ or ‘DEO’, your job is hunt down alien threats to Earth, you work with your sister, Kara, at the DEO, her real name is ‘Kara Zor-El’, and she’s one of the last survivors of a dead planet called ‘Krypton’ and is known to the world as ‘Supergirl’ and who is also my niece, which would mean that I’m an alien as well, an alien who, I might add, tried to take over the world until you killed me. Any of this starting to sound familiar?”

“Yeah, of course it does” Alex snapped, Astra sighed

“Firstly, I’m not an alien,” she began “secondly, I’m not dead, obviously, thirdly I don’t have a niece, and fourth, you’ve never worked for the government. In fact, you never even completed collage”

“So, what?” Alec scoffed “you’re saying that everything, my entire life, has all been what? An illusion? That I’m crazy?”

“You are _not_ crazy,” Astra said firmly “you’re sick, and I’m trying to help you,” she sighed “twelve years ago, you went postal on one of your teachers, one Maxwell Lord—now, having met the man, I can’t say that I blame you—but it was the fact that you shouting—screaming actually—about his plans to kill all aliens in National City that worried people. So, after being taken to a hospital you were diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and were sent here to the Cadmus State Mental Hospital, where you’ve been under our care ever since”

“I don’t believe you” Alex sneered, Astra nodded

“I know you don’t,” she said “but, believe this then, I am _trying_ to help you, but I can’t do that if you insist on attacking me, so let’s call a truce. All right?”

Still unsure of what was going on, Alex slowly nodded “good,” Astra smiled “now, if you’re up for it, you can spend some time in the activities room,” she stood up and offered her hand “shall we?”


	2. Broken Toys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Chapter Two of "Of Sound Mind". i went back to Chapter One and changed a few things, mostly especially I misidentified Astra as a 'psychologist' instead of a 'psychiatrist', for those of you who don't know there is a difference. A psychiatrist is an actual medical doctor and thus can prescribe drugs and treatments and institutionalize someone, whereas a 'psychologist' only has a PhD and cannot prescribe drugs. Anyway explanation over, and now on with the fic!

******

Astra’s shoes squeaked

The worn, particularly-falling-apart-held-together-by-duct-tape shoes on Astra’s feet squeaked.

Loudly

But the sound also, strangely, had a _cheerful_ quality to it, like the shoes were some kind of marching band announcing that their owner was coming.

Alex frowned at the other woman, who looked nothing like the woman she remembered. The Astra she remembered had been all lithe coiled muscle, like a cat or a dancer, this Astra still had that dancer/cat like quality, but she looked more frazzled than the alien general she used to be. Her hair had been messily tied back and her clothing was rumpled, even the white lab coat she was wearing was no longer white, instead it was faded and rumpled. She looked older than Alex remembered; there were a few streaks of gray in her hair along with the streak of white, which, combined with the rumpled clothing, made her look less like an alien warlord and more like a slightly-harried ex-hippie.

It was a good trick, Alex thought as they stepped into the elevator, and wondered how Cadmus had done it, a shapeshifter that shifted to look like Astra? A body double like Maxwell Lord did with Bizzaro? Some poor, brain-dead woman who had been cosmetically altered to look and think she was Astra? Or maybe it really _was_ Astra? Maybe Lillian Luthor and Cadmus had done something to her mind? To Kara’s mind? Made them believe that they were who they said they were, but if so then why the whole scheme with making Alex think she was crazy? Just so Lillian could get her kicks? Or maybe some sort of interrogation technique, something that her DEO training didn’t cover? Get her to reveal DEO secrets under the guise of talking with a therapist?

The elevator dinged, breaking Alex out of her thoughts

“Here we are” Astra nodded as she gently led Alex out into another non-descript hallway, shoes squeaking again. This hallway was busier than the other one she’d seen, orderlies and patients bustled about

“So, where exactly am I?” Alex asked, shying away from a man having an argument with a wall

“Just outside National City,” Astra explained “Cadmus is a hospital for people who aren’t necessarily violent—although we have our share of angry customers—but for people who’s illnesses prevents them from living a normal life. People who, sadly, simply can’t function on the outside, often because they could be a danger to themselves or to others simply by not knowing any better. For example, one of our patients is a former computer hacker who suddenly started to believe that she could hack a computer with her mind; the poor girl nearly electrocuted herself after she cut a hole in her arm and tried to literally ‘plug’ herself in”

“So, where do I fit in?” Alex wondered

“Well, one doctor diagnosed you as a ‘delusional schizophrenic with traits consistent with an inflated ego’,” Astra explained “but, honestly, I think that’s a misdiagnosis”

“You do?” Alex asked skeptically

“I do. Most people with that kind of disorder have a very inflated sense of self-worth, they’re the kind of people who think that they’re the only chance to save the world from disaster but you don’t,” she gently pulled Alex to a stop “I think you honestly want to help people, Alex, you just got a little mixed up, that’s all. Instead of only seeing the real dangers, you starting seeing threats and dangers that weren’t really there”

“So, you’re telling me that you don’t believe in aliens?” Alex smirked, Astra smirked right back

“No, I do believe that there’s life outside Earth, I just think that aliens would have better things to do than bother us,” she explained, she fixed Alex with a hard, yet surprisingly gentle, stare “I also think that you’re just humoring me right now,” she announced, crossing her arms over her chest “ _I think_ that _you think_ that this is some kind of trick or deception by Project Cadmus or the Fort Rozz escapees,” she continued “I think that I could probably tell you that rain is wet right now and you’d say otherwise”

“You’d be right” Alex smirked

“Well, I’m glad we understand each other,” Astra nodded towards a set of doors marked ‘ACTIVITIES ROOM’ “try not to get to any fights today, hmm?” she smirked “it makes me look bad”

“That’s it?” Alex called out as Astra turned to leave, shoes still squeaking “you’re not going to drug me?” Astra turned

“Do you _want_ me to drug you?” she asked

“No!”

“Then I’m not going to drug you,” Astra explained “this isn’t like the movies, Alex; we’re not a bunch of sadists who torture patients if they slip up, we honestly want to help you get better,” she explained “besides,” she added with a smirk “you thinking that you’re a government agent who protects the Earth from aliens is one of the _least_ crazy things I’ve heard,” she waved a hand towards the doors “you’d better hurry, it’s only open for the next hour”

With that she turned and squeaked away

******

Alex wasn’t sure what to expect on the other side of the doors, but wasn’t all that surprised by what she found. The activities room was a relatively large room filled with low tables and chairs, patients and orderlies alike sat around the room, some of the patients sat by themselves in wheelchairs by the windows, staring off into space, others were engaged in heavy conversation with each other, some painted, either actual artistic paintings, or just random swirls of paint.

Finding an isolated corner, Alex sank into a chair and just watched the strangeness going on around her

“Alex! Hey!” she looked up to see Kara wheeling a large cart over, Kara beamed at her “nice to see that you’re up and about,” she nodded, she gestured to the cart, which was crammed with books and magazines “you want something to read?” she offered, Alex smirked, but frowned as two titles caught her eye, two science fiction novels. One was titled _”Escape From Fort Rozz’_ with the subtitle of _”Terror and Suspense in the depths of Space’_ , and another was titled _’The Phantom Zone’_ with the subtitle of _’Time Has No Meaning Here’_. Alex smirked, cute, she thought

“You got _One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest_ ”?” she finally asked, Kara’s face fell

“That’s not funny” she said firmly, scowling, Alex sighed

“No,” she agreed quietly “it’s not,” she looked around the room “anybody I should avoid while I’m in here?” she asked

“Avoid that guy there” Kara pointed to a middle-aged man playing with a teddy bear as he talked to another man off in a corner

“Who’s he?” Alex wondered

“Winslow Schott Sr.,” Kara explained “most people around here just call him ‘toyman’.”

“What’s he in for?

“Well,” Kara huffed “technically he should be in prison, but Mrs. Luthor insisted that he was sent here instead. A couple years ago, he used to make toys for a big toy company, found out his boss was stealing his designs, so he sent his boss a present, a teddy bear with a bomb stuffed inside, when his boss’s assistant opened the box, the bomb killed twenty-six people”

“Jesus,” Alex swore “why the hell was he sent here?” she wondered

“When cops came to arrest him they found him sitting on the floor talking to a teddy bear,” Kara explained “I mean actually _talking_ to it, like it was a person, he even claimed the the bear was the mastermind behind the bombing, and that he was just the lackey. Well, no one could tell whether he was faking or not, so the jury agreed that he wasn’t guilty by reason of insanity and sent him here”

“And he’s…safe?” Alex wondered

“As long as he’s got a toy to play with, he’s a gentle as a kitten apparently,” Kara shrugged “I’m not going to test that of course, but yeah, most of out patients are fairly harmless”

“Who’s that with him?”

“Oh, that’s Winn, his son, he visits his dad every now and then,” Kara explained, just as there wax a loud _shriek_ from the table they were both watching. Alex watched as Winslow St. bolted up, screaming incoherently at his son, who was frantically trying to calm him down. With an angry roar, Senior swung out an arm, knocking Winn out of his chair. In an instant Kara and a swarm of nurses and orderlies rushed forward, tackling Winslow Senior to the floor “get Dr. Inze!!” Kara bellowed as she struggled to hold the failing man “get the straps!” Kara yelled as more nurses and orderlies jumped into the fray “GET THE STRAPS!!”

There was a bang as the doors to the room suddenly burst open, Astra charging into the room

“Hold him!” she bellowed as the man continued to kick and flail “give me his arm!” she ordered as the tangle of the human limbs writhed “come on, Winslow! Come on!” with some effort, Astra managed to work a needle into the man’s arm “that’s it,” she soothed as his screams and kicks began to die down, either from the drug or from exhaustion “that’s it, there you go,” Astra sighed. As the man quieted down she sat back with a sigh “all right, let’s get him back to his room, nice and easy now,” she ordered, as the group of orderlies and nurses gently lifted the now quiet Winslow up and began to carry him out, Astra gave Winslow Jr. a small smile “it’s all right, Winn,” she told him before he could say anything “sometimes these things happen, we hope that they don’t, but they do,” she waved to one of nurses “Lucy!” a pretty young brunette with bright blue eyes came over “see that Mr. Schott is taken care of before he leaves” Astra instructed

“Yes, doctor,” the nurse, Lucy, smiled at Winn “come on” she gently gripped his arm and led him out of the room

“You OK?” Alex looked up as Astra came over to her

“Yeah,” Alex took a breath “that was…”

“…scary, I know,” Astra nodded “walk with me?” she requested, nodding towards the doors

“Sure”

******

They walked aimlessly down the hall in silence aside from Astra’s squeaking shoes for a few minutes until Alex finally spoke up

“So, if that guy is so dangerous, then why did Lillian Luthor insist that he be sent here instead of prison?” she wondered

“Hmm,” Astra sighed “let’s just say that Lillian Luthor looks upon mental healthcare as a _hobby_ ,” she sighed “you notice that no one calls her ‘doctor’?” Alex nodded “that’s because she isn’t one, she’s an administrator, a bureaucrat, pure and simple, having Winslow ‘Toyman’ Schott here adds to the hospital’s prestige, because if we do manage to cure him she can boast about that”

“And you?” Alex wondered “what’s your story?”

“Not much,” Astra shrugged “I wanted to help people, I wanted to find out what made some people go so… _wrong_ ” she explained

“That’s it?” Alex wondered “no skeleton in the closet? No one in the family who went nuts?”

“No, not a one. Unless you count me, of course,” she smirked “my parents didn’t think too highly of me when I was living in a commune in Petaluma” she explained

“Dr. Inze” they both turned to see Lillian Luthor herself marching towards them

“How does she do that?” Astra grumbled “it’s Voodoo, I swear,” she turned back to Alex with a sigh “well, duty calls, I have a nurse escort you back to your room”

“Sure” Alex nodded, wondering how she was going to get out of here…


	3. Night Terrors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Welcome to Chapter Three of "Of Sound Mind", now before we began I'd like to point out the things that Alex believes/imagines won't completely mesh with canon, for example, Alex doesn't know Winn or Lucy, even though in canon she does, anyway, hope that explains things, and now onwards! :=)

******

The room was small, but surprisingly cozy, looking more like a cheap motel room than a hospital room. There was even a window and a small en suite shower, except for the heavy metal door, Alex could have easily believed that she was in a small, cheap motel room. She looked back at Kara, surprised

“I was expecting something more like a prison cell,” she admitted “are all the rooms like this?”

“Most are,” Kara nodded “except for the ones on the fourth floor,” she explained "the first floor's the administrative side of the hospital, second floor is where the patients who voluntarily checked themselves in stay, and here on the third floor is where involuntary patients like you stay"

“What’s on the fourth floor?” Alex wondered

“A floor,” Kara answered blandly; she held up a paper cup “anyway, it’s time for your nightly meds”

“Great,” Alex peered into the cup “what’s in them?”

“Thorazine with an anti-depressant,” Kara answered, she shook the cup encouragingly “come on, I know you don’t like them, nobody here does, but they _do_ help”

“Do they?” Alex wondered dubiously

“They do,” Kara nodded “I’ve seen you after a few weeks, once this stuff starts to kick in, you’re calmer, you’re more focused,” she gave the cup another shake “so, come on,” sighing, Alex took the cup and downed the two brightly-colored pills dry “open,” Kara asked, Alex blinked and then opened her mouth, allowing Kara to peer inside and confirm that she had indeed swallowed the pills “good,” Kara beamed at her “OK, so, in case you don’t remember, in the daytime patients can move around freely, but at night, their usually restricted to their rooms, unless one of the staff goes with them, but some can move around the floor until curfew. Now you’re listed as a Class-C patient, which means that you can be violent, but that’s not how you are normally, so you can move around the floor here until ten, after ten you got to stay in here, nobody really cares what you do in here, as long as you, you know, don’t hurt yourself, but you got to stay in here, OK? If you can’t sleep you can read something, but _please_ try to get some sleep, OK? You could use it”

“I’ll try,” Alex muttered as she looked around the room “what do I do if need something in the middle of the night?” she wondered

“Ah,” Kara pointed to nightstand “just pick up the phone, you don’t have to dial anything—actually you _can't_ dial anything—just pick up the phone, that’ll connect you to the nurse’s station, just tell them what you need and they’ll try to get it for you. Oh, but they don’t allow outside calls after ten, though,” she added, she shrugged “if no one answer’s, I guess you could just wave to the camera until they notice” she muttered

“Camera?” Alex asked

Kara pointed up; Alex turned and saw a rather prominent security camera positioned above the door

“Wonderful” she grumbled

“It’s for your own protection,” Kara shrugged “but, yeah, it is creepy,” she admitted, she looked at her watch “well, I gotta go, I got two more patients to see before I clock out for the night. Someone will be by to check up on you in the morning”

“G’night” Alex muttered, Kara smiled and pulled Alex into a hug

“You’re doing great, Alex,” she said sincerely “remember that” she added firmly. Giving a shy little wave, Kara turned and quietly slipped out the door, shutting it behind her, leaving Alex alone in the room. Glancing up at the camera suspiciously, she made her way into the bathroom, spotting no obvious cameras she quickly leaned over the toilet and spat out the pills, flushing them away

“Nice try” she muttered just as a knock came at the door. Moving back out into the room, she peered out through the small window in the upper portion, seeing Astra standing on the other side. Frowning, Alex pulled open the door. Astra smirked and held up a paper cup

“Nurse Zorel can be far too trusting at times,” she began “I’m not. Your pills. And I assure you that if you _don’t_ take them I _will_ sit on you until you do”

“Nice bedside manner, _doc_ ,” Alex sneered “they teach you that in med school?”

“Just take your goddamn pills, Alex, I want to go home and go to bed and _not_ worry about you having a fucking relapse,” Astra snarled. Scowling, Alex snatched the cup and downed the pills “open,” Astra commanded, peering into Alex’s mouth, finally pulling back with a suspicious glare “better” she grumbled

“I’d love to see you showing a much of med students around” Alex grumbled

“So would Lillian Luthor,” Astra smirked “but I’m not one of her trained monkeys, I only care about my patients’ wellbeing, nothing else. She can threaten to reduce my pay or fire me all she wants; I’m not jumping when she says”

“Hmm, at least that’s not different” Alex muttered

“What is?” Astra wondered

“Your conviction,” Alex explained “your passion”

“Thank you,” Astra nodded “and try to remember that the pills do help”

“So you say,” Alex scoffed “hey,” she began “if I’ve been here as long as you say I have been, then why did I relapse now?”

“Stress,” Astra explained “you just got so stressed out you…retreated, drew back into your mind to something familiar. You have remember that you’ve had this condition, on and off, for twelve years, it may be frightening, but it is familiar”

“Who or what stressed me out?” Alex wondered, Astra snorted

“Nurse Ratchet herself, Lillian Luthor,” she shook her, scowling “apparently, in her ‘ _esteemed_ medical opinion’, you weren’t fit enough to leave yet, you two argued, and you suddenly started yelling about aliens again,” she sighed and rubbed at her temple “twelve years worth of progress, gone, just like that. Now, we’re back to square one”

“So…up until then, I was…normal?” Alex wondered

“What _is_ ‘normal’?” Astra countered “you were getting better, let’s put it that way, no one is ever truly ‘normal’,” she snorted “look at me, I’m an ex-hippie who went mainstream but still believes that listening to sitar music is the greatest thing since sliced bread,” she shrugged and smirked, reaching out to gently squeeze Alex’s shoulder “try to get some sleep,” she advised “and that’s my expert medical opinion”

“Hey, one more thing,” Alex called as she turned to leave “obviously, I didn’t kill you, so…what really happened?”

“You stabbed me in the back with a scalpel,” Astra explained bluntly “missed one of my kidneys by less than an inch”

“I’m sorry” Alex found herself saying, and she was, no matter what was really going here, she never wanted to hurt Astra in any form

“It’s all right,” Astra dismissed “you weren’t yourself at the time. If anything it’s my fault for turning my back on you. Besides, in here, its an occupational hazard, at least four patients have tried to attack two of my nurses at least a dozen times and me personally at least a dozen more. Hell, its considered unusual if you _don’t_ get assaulted by a patient at least once in your time here”

“Why did I stab you?” Alex wondered

“You were having a bad day, Kara was out with the flu—the first time in twelve years that she ever took a sick day, apparently—and you assumed that we had done something to her, you got upset, knocked Dr. Henshaw flat on his ass—which was pretty funny in retrospect—and then when I went to check on him, you snatched up a scalpel and stabbed me with it,” she smirked “got a pretty gnarly scar out that, actually,” she muttered as her cell phone suddenly rang “Dr. Inze…yes, I know…well tell her that I’m with a patient…five minutes is not enough time to see a patient, I don’t care what her precious studies say…no, I’ll _tell_ her _exactly_ what she can do with her precious time index cards,” she sighed and pulled a face “sorry, I need to go,” she apologized to Alex “the witch is looking for me”

“Good luck,” Alex nodded, she smirked and added “light a match, they’re frightened by fire”

“If only” Astra chuckled as she shut the door. Now alone again, Alex looked around, spotting a few personnel effects, there was a picture of her parents on the nightstand and the chest of drawers was filled with her clothes, a small bookshelf held a few books she remembered reading as a kid. Scowling, she wondered how Cadmus had gotten a hold of them, did they pay off Eliza? No, her mother would never betray her, especially not to Cadmus, so that meant that they must have either stolen or reproduced them.

Seeing nothing better to do, she sank down on the bed, stretching out, and letting out a breath, she was trying to think of an escape plan when she heard it, a distant, muffled thump. Looking up, she spotted a small air vent above the door leading into the bathroom, frowning, she got up and leaned against the wall, hearing a few more thumps and what sounded like running footsteps and muffled, distorted voices, straining her ears she able to make out a few snippets of conversation

_”…hold her!”_

_”…get….doctor….”_

_”….make….stop screaming….”_

_”….ucking zoo…”_

Frowning, Alex stepped back and wondered what was going on up on the fourth floor…


	4. The Fourth Floor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DOUBLE UPDATE!!!!

******

The strange—and frankly disturbing sounds—had continued on and off for the rest of the night, but about thirty minutes after Astra had left, Alex had felt her head getting heavy and the next thing she knew she was waking up with a stiff neck and a horribly dry mouth. Shuffling off into the bathroom she turned on the sink and stuck her head under the tap, drinking and splashing some water on her face to wake up. Feeling somewhat more human, she shuffled back into the room to see the door open

“Oh, morning,” the nurse chirped “how are you feeling?” she asked, Alex stiffened as she suddenly recognized her, Major Lucy Lane, General Lane’s daughter, Kara’s friend. How in the hell did Cadmus get Lucy too? Did they drug her or do whatever they had done to Astra and Kara and make her think that she was a nurse here? Or was she working with them voluntarily?

Shaking herself off, Alex answered Lucy’s question

“Tired and thirsty” she admitted

“That’s the drugs I’m afraid,” Lucy shrugged as she began to change the bed sheets “aside from that how are you feeling?”

“Creepied out,” Alex admitted “I could hear all sorts of sounds through the vent last night” she explained, Lucy looked up

“Damn it, I keep telling her to close the vents on the third floor,” she scowled, she sighed "don't let it get to you," she advised "I'll speak to the doctors about doing something about it" she promised

******

After straightening up the room, Lucy took Alex back down to the first floor, which was apparently both the administration side of the hospital and where the common areas were held. She had spotted, and shied away from, Winslow ‘Toyman’ Schott in the activities room and instead went outside, relishing the fact that she actually _could_ go outside. Padding across the grass she looked around, spotting a familiar figure sitting on a bench

“Hi,” she greeted “mind if I sit here?” Winslow ‘Winn’ Schott Jr. looked up and then dimly nodded “you’re Winn right?” Alex asked as she sat down

“Yeah, that’s me,” he nodded, he frowned at her, looking her up and down “oh” he finally murmured

“’Oh’, what?” Alex asked

“Nothing, just…you’re…a patient” he finally stammered

“I guess I am” she acknowledged _’for now anyway’_ she added silently. Fortunately she was saved from any further talk by Lucy coming over

“Hey, Winn,” she beamed “Dr. Sawyer wants to talk you about your dad” she explained

“Oh, sure” Winn stood up, waved awkwardly to Alex and walked back towards the building

“I saw that” Alex chuckled

“Saw what?” Lucy asked

“You,” Alex nodded towards the direction Winn had disappeared to “you like him” she teased, Lucy chuckled

“So, what if I do?” she wondered, smiling “he’s cute and sweet, what’s not to like?” she shrugged and, still smiling, walked away

“You know, some of the patients and staff have a bet about those two” Astra’s voice said

“Really?” Alex asked as Astra sat down next to her

“Mmhm,” Astra nodded “some think that they’re secretly dating, while others think that its only a matter of time until they realize it”

“Can I get in on it?” Alex wondered, Astra chuckled

“If you want,” she nodded “but, seriously, Lucy told me that you heard something through the vent in your room last night?” Alex nodded, Astra sighed “come with me”

******

They got off the elevator and stepped out into another generic hospital corridor. Looking to the left, Alex spotted a rather ominous sign painted on the wall which read ‘ALL STAFF MUST DISPLAY PROPER ID BEYOND THIS POINT’ another sign further down the hall read ‘YOU ARE NOW ENTERING A HIGH-RISK AREA, PROCEED WITH CAUTION’

“Where are we going?” Alex asked

“You’ll see,” Astra answered as they came to a heavy metal door. Astra waved to the security camera and held up her ID, there was an electronic buzz and the door slowly creaked open “hey, Mike” Astra greeted, the security guard behind the glass barrier nodded back

“Doc,” he grinned, he glanced at Alex “transfer?” he asked

“Tour,” Astra explained “she heard you guys last night through the vent”

“Can’t let you go any further without authorization,” Mike explained “but, I suppose you can take a peek on the screens” he rolled his chair aside and gestured to the wall of monitors which showed grainy, black-and-white images of various people, presumably patients, in small, cell-like rooms

“These are our most disturbed patients,” Astra explained sadly “the ones who we’ll probably never cure, or the ones who are too violent to safely handle. They’re what you heard through the vent last night,” Alex shivered as she glanced from screen to screen. Most of the patients looked quite normal, but even through a monitor and thick glass there was something decidedly _**wrong**_ about these people, an general aura of _something_ that made her think of a horror movie “some of the staff who work up here call this place the ‘zoo’.” Astra explained

“Why show me this?” Alex wondered, tearing her eyes away from the images

“Because I want you to understand that you’re not like them,” Astra explained “these people will probably spend the rest of their lives in here, you won’t, you’ll get better eventually, but you have to trust us, and that means taking your pills and ignoring anything Lillian Luthor says”

Alex should have said ‘no’, at the very least she should have pretended to agree in order to better her chances of escape, but there was something in Astra’s eyes, something so earnest and sincere that she found herself nodding

“All right” she said, and was shocked to find that she meant it...


	5. Progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIPLE UPDATE!! HA-HA-HA!!!

******

The rest of the day consisted of art therapy (which Alex sucked at, she could barely draw a stick figure, let alone paint how she was ‘feeling on the inside’) and group therapy, which she found boring and basically entailed a bunch of other patients talking about their own delusions, but every time Alex wanted to say ‘fuck it’, she found herself thinking back to the look in Astra’s eyes, and then found herself actually making an effort, no matter how half-assed it may have been. Was she really crazy? Probably not, she decided, but she was beginning to doubt that she was some scheme by Project Cadmus

“Alex?” she looked up, realizing that she’d been sitting in her chair for at least three minutes after group ended

“Sorry, Kara,” she apologized “guess I zoned out or something”

“That’s fine,” Kara smiled “anyway, there’s someone here to see you” she explained. Frowning, Alex got up and followed Kara down the hall to the activities room

“Mom” she gasped at the sight of Eliza sitting at one of the tables

“How are you feeling, sweetie?” Eliza asked as Kara led Alex over

“I…,” Alex shook her head, knowing now that Eliza wouldn’t believe her if she mentioned the DEO or Supergirl “I’m…OK, I guess” she finally stammered out

“Good,” Eliza smiled, but it was tight, strained, slightly forced “Dr. Inze says that you’ve had a relapse,” she sighed, she gently took Alex’s hands “you were doing so well, what happened?”

“I don’t know,” Alex admitted “are you OK, Mom?”

“I’m fine,” Eliza sighed, she squeezed Alex’s hands “I can’t stay long, new regulations by Mrs. Luthor, but, you’re doing OK?”

“I guess,” Alex shrugged “Mom,” she began “am I…am I really crazy? I mean, the DEO, my sister, is it all just…a delusion?”

“Oh, honey,” Eliza sighed “you are _not_ crazy, but, yes, you’re net well,” she explained “but, the doctors tell me that you’re doing well, even after the relapse,” she smiled and this time it seemed less forced “Dr. Inze has high hopes for you” she added

“Mrs. Danvers,” they both looked up as an orderly came “time to go”

“Oh, please, just a few minutes more” Eliza pleaded

“Now, Mrs. Danvers”

Eliza sighed and reluctantly stood up

“I’ll come visit tomorrow” she promised

“Yeah,” Alex nodded “I’d like that”

“I love you, Alex” Eliza pulled her into a hug

“I love you too, Mom,” Alex whispered, scowling as the orderly impatiently tapped his foot “you’d better go” Alex said as she pulled away

“OK” Eliza whispered tearfully as she pulled away and allowed the orderly to led her out of the room

“He’s an ass,” Alex looked over at Kara, who nodded towards the orderly “John Corbin, he’s one of Mrs. Luthors…. _pets_ ,”she sneered “does whatever she says, enforces whatever ridiculous rules she creates”

“Yeah,” Alex mumbled, she suddenly felt dizzy, lightheaded “Kara…I don’t---” she suddenly like she was floating

“ALEX!!” she heard Kara shout, but sounded distant, far away, and she didn’t really feel like answering as blackness surrounded her


	6. Breakthroughs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Multiple update!

******

Alex jerked awake with a gasp

“Easy” a male voice rumbled, she looked around, finding that she was back in her room. Looking for the sound of the voice, she found a tall black man standing by the foot of the bed

“Hank,” she recognized and suddenly realized that something felt different, the whole world suddenly felt different “wha, what happened?” she asked

“You fainted,” Hank explained, gently coming around to the sit on the bed next to her “how are you feeling?”

“Funny,” Alex answered “weird, like…everything looks…different,” she tried to sit up and found that she couldn’t “oh, come on, what is it with you people and tying me down?” she grumbled “that’s the third time this year that you…” she stopped “third time this year,” she muttered, that couldn’t be right, it _couldn’t be_ , she’d only been here for a day or two

Right?

Slowly, like an old, jerky film reel, images began to flash by her minds eye. Dr. Hank Henshaw had found her not in a jail cell but in a hospital psych ward, he’d been her primary doctor here at Cadmus until Lillian Luthor decided that a new doctor would be a better choice.

Dr. Astra Inze.

Alex had seen it as a trick and had cast Astra as the villain in her mind, because Astra’s treatment process, the Myriad Process, involved letting Alex work through the delusion on her own, rather than simply drugging her, Astra believed that Alex could come out of the delusion on her own, she had encouraged Alex to talk about it, write it down, give it a voice, allowing Alex to slowly poke her own holes in it herself, and slowly, she began to make progress, she began to realize that Astra wasn’t an alien, and neither was Kara, neither was Hank, and that all three of them were truly trying to help her.

Slowly she looked up at Hank, who nodded sadly

“I’m sorry” he said

“Don’t be,” Alex sighed, feeling her body sag in the restraints “at least it makes sense now,” she tugged at her limbs “can I get out of this?”

“Of course” Hank stood up and gently unlocked the straps

“What now?” Alex asked

“Now, we can help you get better,” Hank explained quietly “so you can go home”

“Can, can I just stay here for a while?” Alex asked

“Of course,” Hank nodded, he slowly stood up “just call the nurse’s station if you need anything” he instructed

“Thanks,” Alex nodded, letting out a breath as Hank quietly shut the door behind him. Glaring at the security camera above the door, she rolled away from it and began to quietly sob. Her entire life, everything she ever thought she knew, all of if

None of it had been real…

******

Alex must’ve dozed off, because the next thing she knew the bed was gently dipping as someone sat down and a gentle hand was brushing through her hair. Looking up, she found Astra smiling softly down at her

“I heard about what happened,” she said softly “how are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Alex answered “depressed”

“I know,” Astra nodded “but at least now we can help you,” she explained “recognizing that you have a problem is the first step in overcoming it”

“You sound like a fortune cookie,” Alex grimaced, she looked up at Astra again “you never gave up on me, did you?”

“Never,” Astra whispered. Slowly, Alex pushed herself upright into a sitting position. Trembling she reached up, cupping Astra’s cheek “Alex…” Astra warned

“I can’t…,” Alex shook her head, leaning in to close the distance between them, relishing in the feel of Astra’s lips against her own, at the way that Astra kissed her back

“We can’t do this,” Astra panted out as she pulled away “Alex, you’re one of my patients, that’s a breach of ethics,” she explained, even as she cupped Alex’s cheek, brushing her thumb across Alex’s cheekbone “no matter how much I _want_ to, I _can’t_ ” she insisted

“I know,” Alex sighed, they had this conversation before, after she’d stabbed Astra with the scalpel, she had confessed that she thought she might be in love with Astra, Astra had countered that it was probably transference, a patient mistaking her doctor’s sympathy and empathy as affection, but Alex had insisted that it wasn’t transference, it couldn’t be, until finally Astra admitted that she had very likely fallen for Alex as well “you should go” Alex mumbled, pulling away from Astra’s touch

“I know,” Astra murmured, she frowned “come here,” she stood up and held out a hand, frowning Alex took it and allowed Astra to lead her into the bathroom “there’re no cameras in here” Astra said softly, before she suddenly gripped the front of Alex’s t-shirt and kissed her, hungrily. Finally pulling away for air

“We can’t” Alex guessed

“Not in the bathroom at least,” Astra smirked, but the joke fell flat “try to get some rest,” she finally mumbled, staring down at her duct taped sneakers “I’ll be by to check up on you later tonight”

“OK” Alex mumbled, finding herself unable to move as she watched Astra quietly walk out.

Even her shoes sounded melancholy…


	7. Repercussions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Seven! Enjoy! :=)

******

Alex didn’t see Astra later that night, or the next day, or the day after that. By the third day she was getting worried and asked Kara about it

“I don’t really know,” Kara shrugged “I could ask” she offered

“Could you?” Alex hoped “I just don’t want to find out that she’s been fired or something”

“No, she’s still here,” Kara confirmed “but, yeah, you’re right, I haven’t seen her around lately” Kara frowned and nodded to herself as she left to check on another patient, while Alex went to group therapy

******

The answer as to where Astra had gone came a little before ten that night as Kara was coming in to check up on Alex and make sure she was taking her meds (which she was now without complaint or question)

“Kara, what is it?” Alex asked, Kara took a breath

“I…found out where Dr. Inze went,” Kara began shakily “she…apparently Mrs. Luthor found evidence of her having an…affair with a patient and…transferred her”

“Transferred her where?” Alex asked, Kara paled and shook her head “Kara! Where is she?” Alex demanded

“…the fourth floor” Kara finally mumbled

“What?!!” Alex demanded, Kara nodded

“I guess…up there…she can’t fall for any patients”

“So, wait a minute, wait a minute!” Alex shook her head “she’s now working on the fourth floor? The Zoo?”

“…yeah”

“Well, we got to get her out of there!”

“Alex! This isn’t like the movies OK?!” Kara snapped “Mrs. Luthor’s made her decision and we have to stand by it”

“Did, did she tell you who the patient was?” Alex wondered

“No. But she didn’t have to,” Kara gave her a weak smile “I’ve seen how you two look at each other,” she faltered “is it true?” she asked “were you sleeping with Dr. Inze?”

“No,” Alex shook her head “we…kissed…once, that was it”

“I guess Mrs. Luthor thought it wasn’t” Kara muttered

“Yeah” Alex sighed, she glanced up at the vent, cringing at the thought of Astra at the mercy of the most dangerous and unstable patients the hospital had to offer…


	8. New Arrivals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter of "Of Sound Mind", enjoy! Trigger warning for mention of stalking

******

Over the next week, Alex saw Kara and Lucy sporadically, there was a change in the general air of the place, patients that she’d seen on an almost regular basis were no longer to be found, and patients she’d never seen before were coming in droves, either being transferred up to the third floor from the second floor or from other hospitals.

There was ‘Mike’ (not to be confused with the guard on the fourth floor, and Alex wasn’t going to think about the fourth floor right now) who proclaimed that he was ‘Mon-El,. Prince of Daxam’ (wherever and whatever ‘Daxam’ was) and who would flirt shamelessly with any woman he came across, declaring that it was his ‘princely right’ to do so (Alex still grinned at the memory of when Kara had knocked him flat on his ass after he grabbed her butt, proclaiming that she was married and if he did that again he’d end up in straitjacket, something which, for once, Lillian Luthor agreed with).

Another new patient was ‘Lyra Strayd’ an Englishwoman who apparently thought that she was invisible and as a result had tried to steal a priceless painting from the National City Art Gallery, both Mike/Mon-El and Lyra were harmless thankfully and even kind of funny in a sad way, and had both been listed as ‘Class B’ patients, meaning that they were delusional but harmless (Class A patients were the ones who had voluntarily committed themselves). A new nurse had arrived too, an old colleague of Hank’s, ‘Susan Vasquez’; she was immensely professional and competent and, like Kara, went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that her patients were doing well.

Alex had been playing solitaire in the activities room when one of the new patients, a ‘Maggie Sawyer’, had wandered over and sat down

“Can I help you?” Alex asked, trying to keep her voice calm and steady, the only people who were allowed to just sit down uninvited were Hank, Kara, Lucy, and Astra

“You’re Alex, right?” Maggie smiled, and Alex had to admit that, in another life, she might have found Maggie quite pretty, but not now, not after Astra

“That’s me,” she nodded “Maggie Sawyer, right?”

“Right,” Maggie grinned “so, what are you in for?”

“Paranoid schizophrenic,” Alex answered honestly, she didn’t feel ashamed about it, she didn’t need to feel ashamed for being sick, Astra had taught her that “you?”

“Ah,” Maggie waved a hand “they say I went a little crazy over my girlfriend,” she dismissed “total misunderstanding,” she explained with a grin, Alex nodded slowly, she didn’t what Maggie’s story was, but if she was here it probably wasn’t as simple as a misunderstanding “but,” Maggie sighed “the judge says that I hurt someone—well, a _lot_ of someones, actually—and I need to stay here for awhile”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Alex agreed noncommittally “so,” she began “the staff treating you OK?”

“Yeah,” Maggie nodded “that nurse, Kara, great kid, so sweet and bubbly. Makes you wonder how she ended up working here”

“You and me both, Sawyer” Alex chuckled

“Detective Sawyer,” Hank came over smiling at the two women “I see you’ve met Alex,” he nodded “that’s good, Alex here is one of our success stories”

“I am?” Alex asked skeptically, she’d been at Cadmus for twelve years and had only recently made some success in getting better

“Oh, yes,” Hank nodded proudly “she’s made great strides in just a short amount of time,” he explained “in just a few days she’s come to realize that her delusions were just that, delusions, and she’s been staying on her meds without complaint. Pretty soon, she might be out of here”

“Wow,” Maggie grinned “impressive”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed, giving Hank a funny look “it is”

“Now, Detective, as much as I hate to break up this conversation but you’re supposed to be seeing Dr. Martin”

“Right,” Maggie sighed as she stood up “well, I guess I’ll see you around, Danvers”

“Guess so” Alex agreed. Once Maggie had left, Alex turned to Hank “’she’s made great strides in just a short amount of time’? Hank, I’ve been here for _twelve years_!” she hissed “you have nurses on staff who are _younger_ than me! What gives?”

“I want you to stay away from her,” Hank warned “she’s dangerous”

“So are half the people in this room,” Alex scoffed “and that’s just the patients,” she sighed “what’s she in for? Really?” she asked, Hank sighed as he sat down across from her

“What I’m about to tell you possibly breaches doctor/patient confidentiality, but since Ms. Sawyer has already shown that she can be a threat to others, I’m going to tell you”

“All right…” Alex nodded slowly

“Detective Sawyer was committed to Cadmus for stalking,” he began “apparently, she started to stalk a fellow officer, she started sending her letters, calling her at all hours of the night, she finally broke into the poor woman’s home and spray-painted ‘Why Won’t You Love Me?’ all over the bedroom”

“Jeez,” Alex stamped down a shiver “so, what happened? How’d she end up here?” she asked, Hank sighed

“Well, when she was confronted about this, she apparently flew into a rage and actually _shot_ several other officers, screaming that they were conspiring to keep her and her imaginary lover apart, before she was finally subdued. It took _six_ officers and two shots from a taser to finally get her down”

“So, she’s a Class C patient, like me,” Alex guessed “normally fine, but if she’s provoked…” she trailed off, Hank nodded

“Like I said, stay away from her,” he emphasized “people with her condition can misinterpret the smallest things, a look, a handshake, as something more, they began to build an entire fantasy life inside their heads, names, dates, all of it revolving around a supposed relationship that never actually happened”

“…and when they’re rejected…”, Alex finished, Hank nodded “Hank,” she touched his arm when he tried to get up “any work on Dr. Inze? I know she’s been transferred to the fourth floor, but any news? Is she all right?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound as desperate as she felt. Hank studied her for a long moment, finally nodding to himself

“I haven’t heard anything,” he finally said “but I’ll look into it for you,” he promised as he stood up, he leaned in closer “just try not kiss her again” he whispered, Alex blushed

“It’s not transference” she mumbled

“Oh, I know it’s not,” Hank nodded “but while you’re here it is, so don’t act out any fantasies you might have about her, save that for when you get out of here”

“Will do,” Alex mumbled as he walked off “I was right,” she grumbled to herself “he _is_ from Mars…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who don't like Maggie's portrayal, I ask that you direct your displeasure to snow_lilly, who suggested it, sort of (don't be mean, please, she was merely offering up an idea and I ran with it :=)


	9. Reunions?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here's a short update to "Of Sound Mind", enjoy! :=)

******

For the next month, Alex saw neither hide nor hair of Astra, the information that Hank managed to get for her was generic and told her nothing ( _’she’s doing OK’_ , or _’she’s good’_ were his responses), so Alex was left to take her pills, attend group, and fret at night in her room about Astra’s fate and wellbeing.

She didn’t know what _exactly_ went on up on the fourth floor but she could imagine with frightening clarity, visions of truly demented patients danced in her head, the kind of people who were warped and _**twisted**_ to the point of no longer being truly human. What was Astra witnessing up there? She wanted to know, were they treating her all right? Were the patients giving her a hard time? Was the rest of the staff? Was she witnessing the patients being tortured?

A knock at her door broke her out of her thoughts. Getting up, she shuffled over and opened the door, jerking back in surprise

“Astra?”

“Hey,” the doctor grunted “how’re you doing?”

“How am _I_ doing?” Alex demanded “how are _you_ doing?”

“I’m…OK,” Astra shrugged, she pointed up at the ceiling “Lillian’s idea of ‘correcting’ staff who don’t agree with her,” she explained “we’ve all been transferred up there at one point or another,” she sighed and stared down at her shoes again “I can’t be your doctor anymore, Alex, even though Lillian’s evidence is circumstantial at best, its still enough to possibly cost me my license, or even jail time, seeing as how they could argue that I’m taking advantage of an unstable and mentally fragile individual”

“What am I? Porcelain?” Alex scoffed, she sighed “so…this is…goodbye?”

“More or less,” Astra nodded “I’ll still be here, and you can come to me if you need something right away, but I won’t be you’re primary doctor anymore”

“Who will?”

“Dr. Henshaw, most likely,” Astra explained “he has the most experience with you, and he was the one who admitted you in the first place”

“I see,” Alex nodded, she sighed “well, either way, I’m glad you’re all right”

“I’m glad that _you’re_ all right,” Astra smiled “I was really worried that you’d have another relapse again”

“No such luck,” Alex chuckled; she smiled and held out her hand “well…goodbye, I guess”

“Goodbye, Alex” Astra whispered…


	10. Mad Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Ten of "Of Sound Mind", enjoy, and please, direct any displeasure at Maggie's portrayal at snow_lily :=), but don't be mean, please, I'm the one who decided to write it :=)

******

For the next two months Alex effectively ‘moped’ around the hospital. She took her pills, attended group like all the other patients, but she had clearly lost a certain ‘something’ about her character.

But, what else could she do? Astra’s brief visit to say goodbye had been the last she’d seen of the other woman, Astra having been permanently transferred up to the fourth floor, now, every time Alex heard a squeaking sound like Astra’s sneakers she’d look up, only find that it was something else, a squeaky wheel on a cart, a marker squeaking against the dry erase board at the nurse’s station, anything except those familiar duct-taped sneakers

“Alex?” she looked up to see Kara standing over her “you OK?”

“Not really, no” she answered honestly as she looked around the empty activities room

“Let me guess, Astra?” Kara asked as she pulled a chair over and sat down

“Yeah, stupid huh?” Alex chuckled bitterly

“Love is never stupid,” Kara replied wisely “crazy, wild, yes, but _never_ stupid,” she idly fingered the wedding band on her hand as she spoke “I ever tell you about my husband?” she wondered

“No, I didn’t even know you _had_ a husband until you knocked Mike/Mon-El on his ass” Alex explained

“He’s supported me,” Kara explained “all way from nursing school, up to when I decided to become a psychiatric nurse, most guys would’ve eventually given up by now, with the hours, the _injuries_ —I actually had a patient who broke my arm once—but not him,” she smiled, her eyes bright “he’s stood by me through it all,” she fixed Alex with a look “that’s what love is”

“Sounds like a great guy,” Alex nodded “what’s he do?” Alex wondered

“He’s a photojournalist,” Kara explained “maybe you’ve heard of him? James Olsen?”

Alex shook her head

“Sorry, but I’ve been here for the past twelve years, so I’ve been out of touch for awhile,” Kara chuckled at the lame attempt at a joke “you know,” Alex began “when I was little I always wanted a sister,” she explained “and then I met you, and you were _so_ sweet and caring, you made me feel safe, loved, in my lucid moments. I think, I think that’s why I made you into my sister in my head” she blushed and looked away

“Well, I can tell you right now,” Kara began “I’d be honored to have you as a sister”

“Thanks, Kara”

“Alex, hey,” they both looked up to Maggie Sawyer come over “what’re you two talking about?” she wondered, Alex felt herself stiffen, there was something in Maggie’s eyes that scared her

“Oh, hi, Maggie,” she greeted, trying to keep her voice steady “Kara and I were just talking about her husband”

“Oh, so you got a husband, that’s good,” Maggie nodded, her movements quick and jerky “good, good, good” she repeated, her smile suddenly seemed plastered on, fake, and her hand—half hidden behind her back—twitched

“Maggie,” Kara began slowly, tensing as she spoke “show me your other hand, please” she requested gently. With a sudden angry yell, Maggie lunged, a pen clutched in her hand, as she overturned the table, knocking Kara aside like a ragdoll, as she lunged for Alex, stabbing down at her with the pen

“I GAVE YOU EVEYTHING, ALEX!!!” she screamed as she wildly lunged “BUT IT’S ALWAYS ‘ASTRA, ASTRA, ASTRA’!!!” Alex scrambled back, scurrying back like a crab as the pen _wooshed_ through the air, where the hell were the other nurses? The orderlies? Somebody?!

“Maggie! Calm down!” Alex yelled as she staggered to her feet, trying to keep the overturned table between herself and Maggie, Alex wasn’t too sure if a pen was sharp enough to be used as a weapon, but she wasn’t too eager to test that out either “OK, just calm down, we can talk about this!” she jerked back as Maggie wildly swung out again, her movements sharp, uncoordinated, wild, like an animal

“We’re done talking!” Maggie snarled “all you care about is that fucking doctor!”

“HEY!” Alex watched as Kara suddenly tackled Maggie, both of them collapsing to the ground. Maggie recovered first, probably because of her police training, but Kara got the first blow in, delivering a quick jab to Maggie’s nose, shifting into what Alex recognized as a kickboxing stance as Maggie recovered.

Kara jabbed again, delivering a flurry of kicks and punches before Maggie had a chance to recover, finally sweeping her legs out from under her and then pinning her to the ground, holding her in a full nelson as she kicked and struggled “ALEX!” she called out “the nurse’s station! Grab me a syringe with a red cap! Hurry!”

“On it!” Alex sprinted across the room towards the nurse’s station, stopping short at the door, locked with an electronic lock “what’s the code?!” she called back

“Six-six-seven-zero-pound!!” Kara called back “for god’s sake! Hurry!!”

“Got it!” Alex hurried punched the code, yanking the door open and rushing into the empty cubicle, none of this made sense, even if she was the only patient in the activities room, _someone_ should have been manning the nurse’s station, if anything to prevent the patients from hurting themselves “red cap, red cap, got it!” Alex sprinted back into the main room to find that Maggie had managed to wriggle out of Kara’s grip and was now back to trading blows with the young nurse. Alex watched as Kara feinted to the right, and when Maggie moved in to what she thought was an opening, punched her in the gut.

Maggie staggered; doubling over, but still wouldn’t go down. With a grunt Kara grabbed the front of her shirt and followed up with a head butt, which finally sent Maggie to the floor in a sprawl

“OW!” Kara groaned, holding her head, winching

“You all right?” Alex asked as she hurried over

“Yeah, yeah,” Kara shook her head and quickly snatched the syringe from her and swiftly bent down and injected Maggie in the arm “OK, easy, easy, Maggie, come on, that’s it,” she sighed as Maggie finally quieted and went still “Alex, you OK?”

“Yeah, but I’m confused”

“Yeah,” Kara nodded as she looked around the empty room “where the hell are the orderlies and nurses?”


	11. Suspicions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update!!! :=)

******

“What the hell happened?” Hank demanded as Alex and a still-wincing and bruised Kara limped into his office

“Maggie Sawyer attacked us” Kara panted out as Hank helped her into a chair

“What?!” Hank demanded “how did this happen?”

“No one else was around,” Alex explained as she sank into a chair besides Kara “I mean _no one_ , no orderlies, and no other nurses except Kara”

“Why wasn’t there anyone there?” Hank demanded “hospital policy is that there’s always supposed to be at least one nurse on duty in the activities room at all times”

“There was,” Kara nodded, wincing as Hank examined the cut above her eyebrow “me”

“There should still have been an orderly on staff with you,” he grumbled “what set Detective Sawyer off?” he asked

“Who knows!” Alex threw her hands up in frustration “one minute, I’m talking with Kara, the next Maggie’s coming at me with a pen, screaming”

“There had to have been something,” Kara pointed out, gingerly fingering her right eye, which was already starting to purple “did you talk to her at any time over the past two months?”

“No, not that I—,” Alex froze, groaning as she remembered the last time she’d seen Maggie “oh, fuck!” she sighed “we played cards together last month”

“Alex!” Hank admonished

“I didn’t think that would set her off!” she exclaimed “it was cards! Not dinner!”

“That doesn’t matter,” Hank explained firmly “for someone with her condition, the simplest things can set her off, your first meeting with her probably got her started, and then the card game just completed the cycle,” he sighed “did you say anything, anything at all, during the game that could be misinterpreted as a romantic gesture?”

“Uh, oh shit! I said….’we should do this again sometime’.” Alex sighed, Hank and Kara both sighed in response

“That’s it then,” Kara nodded “that’s what set her off,” she shook her head “no, hang on, she’s been on meds for the past two months, they should’ve kicked in by now”

“She’s probably been faking,” Alex shrugged “hell, I used to do all the time; it’s not as hard as it sounds, you just hide ‘em in your cheek or under your tongue and then flush them when no one’s looking”

“Where is Maggie now?” Hank asked

“Fourth floor, the rubber room, sedated and straitjacketed” Kara answered

“Good,” Hank nodded, he glanced between the two women “I still want to know why no one else was on staff at the time”

“I’ll find out” Alex nodded 

“That wasn’t what I meant, Alex”

“I know that, Hank, but she attacked me, OK? Now what if was somebody else? Somebody who couldn’t defend themselves? Hell, I got lucky that Kara knows kickboxing, or else I might be a goner”

“She’s right, Hank,” Kara nodded “this has been happening more and more, I don’t whether it’s because of budget cuts or what, but both the patients and the staff are in danger, and its because there’s never enough people on staff to prevent these attacks”

Hank slowly sighed

“All right,” he finally said “both of you start asking questions, _quietly_ , and if word gets to Lillian Luthor that you’re doing this I don’t know either of you, clear?”

“Clear” the two women chorused, Alex grinned as Kara stood up

“C’mon, _sis_ ,” she joked “let’s go ask around”


	12. Locked In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update time for "Of Sound Mind", enjoy :=)

******

Exiting Hank’s office, Alex frowned, suddenly realizing something

“Hey,” she said, gently reaching out to stop Kara “why didn’t you tell him that I had to grab the syringe from the nurse’s station?”

Kara smirked

“Let’s just keep that to ourselves for now, huh?” she grinned “don’t want to lose my job, now do I?”

Alex chuckled

“What time is anyway?” she sighed, rubbing at the back of her neck as the adrenaline began to ware off

“Late, almost time for curfew,” Kara explained “go to bed, we’ll start asking questions tomorrow”

“Yeah, OK,” Alex mumbled, shuffling towards the elevator “g’night, Kara”

“Night”

******

Although Alex had wanted to start asking around immediately the next morning, Kara had warned against it, pointing out that it would raise too much suspicions on the part of Lillian and her cronies, and Alex was forced to agree, agreeing to wait for a day or two, so Alex spent the next one and a half days slowly fuming. Finally, at around five in the evening, Kara knocked on her door

“What’d you find out?” she asked ushering Kara inside

“Not much,” the nurse sighed “most people are either too loyal or too scared of Mrs. Luthor to talk, although I did find out that Lucy and Winn are dating”

“Good to know?” Alex blinked, confused, Kara grinned

“He’s also an IT expert,” she explained “maybe we can find something out with his help”

“Kara,” Alex began slowly “are you actually suggesting that we _hack_ into Lillian Luthor’s computer?”

“Hey, you said it, not me,” Kara sighed “look, _something_ is going on here, it’s not just the short-staffing, its something else. Here, look at this,” she held out a file folder, opening to reveal what looked like newspaper clippings on both Hank and Astra “both Drs. Inze and Henshaw are the best at what they do, Dr. Inze’s Myriad Process had a ninety-seven percent success rate, that means that ninety-seven percent of her patients either were cured or at the very least got better, right?” she pulled out another piece of paper, this one seemed to show the number of patients who’d been released from the hospital over the past twelve years “now look at this, in the past twelve years, the number of Class C patients leaving the hospital hasn’t changed at all. In 2005 it was at less then ten percent and today, it’s still at less then ten percent”

“That can’t be right,” Alex muttered, taking the paper form her “I mean I’m not expert, but even so, the numbers should change, especially if Astra’s process has that big of a success rate”

“Exactly,” Kara nodded “so, something’s fishy here”

“I’ll say,” Alex frowned “where’s Winn and Lucy right now?”

“The visitor’s room I think”

“Good,” Alex nodded “let’s see how good Winn really is”

******

They found Winn and Lucy chatting in the visitor’s room on the second floor, the sun dipped low in the sky, bathing the room in a soft orange glow, it was getting late

“Can we trust Lucy?” Alex muttered, Kara nodded

“She’s like me,” she explained “all she cares about is her patients”

Alex nodded

“Winn,” she called out, he looked up “we need your help”

******

“So, what am I looking for exactly?” Winn asked as he typed away at Hank’s computer

“Anything that could explain why no one’s getting better,” Kara answered “check everything, the accounts, patients records, everything, look for anything that doesn’t feel right” she instructed

“Right, no pressure,” Winn muttered, he frowned “uh, you guys _do_ that this is _highly illegal_ , right? We could all go to federal prison if we’re caught”

“We’re aware of that Mr. Schott,” Hank rumbled “but whatever’s going on here is probably even more illegal”

“Whoa, hang on,” Winn leaned forward, typing slightly faster “here’s something, uh, how much does Cadmus charge for treatment?”

“A lot,” Lucy answered “we’re one of the more expensive mental hospitals in the state”

“And how of much does the state pay them?” Winn wondered

“I don’t know,” Kara shrugged “why?”

“Well look at this,” he pointed to the screen “OK, Alex, here’s your patient profile, now it says that your mom is paying about ten thousand or so for you to stay here, right?”

“OK” Alex nodded, not quite seeing a pattern

“But look at this,” Winn pointed to another window on the screen “only about one thousand is actually going to your treatment”

“What?” Alex leaned in “where’s the other nine thousand?”

“Hang on,” Winn started typing again “hello,” he pointed to the screen “look at this, Cadmus gets a federal grant of about one hundred thousand every year, _but_ only about one thousand is actually being used. So, what happened to the rest?”

“Good question,” Hank grumbled “can you find out?” he asked

“Not legally, no,” Winn answered, even as he typed “OK, I just got us into Mrs. Luthor’s private accounts, please don’t ask me _how_ , I want to stay out of prison”

“Well, everything looks normal,” Kara muttered “although she spends a lot on fancy dinners”

“Yeah,” Winn muttered “hang on,” he began typing again “uh-oh” he pointed to the screen

“Is that right?” Alex asked

“I hope not” Hank grumbled

“I think it is” Kara moaned

“Every time a new patient gets admitted a new deposit appears in Lillian Luthor’s private accounts,” Winn summarized, grimacing “I think I’m going to be sick”

“She’s embezzling,” Alex hissed “and using the patients to do it”

“Makes sense,” Winn shrugged “I mean, even if someone found out, no one’s going to question the crazy person,” Alex coughed “sorry,” Winn muttered just as the screen flickered “whoa, what the…?” he leaned forward and began typing “someone else is hacking in” he announced

“Who?” Alex wondered

“No clue, but it’s coming from this building” Winn explained just as the computer chirped

“ _No,_ ” the image of a blonde woman suddenly said “ _just from the other side of your screen_ ”

“Indigo,” Kara hissed “how did you get access to the system?” she demanded “you’re not supposed to be allowed near any computers”

“ _People leave their phones lying around all the time,_ ” Indigo explained, she smirked shark-liked at the group “ _did you really think that this_ box _could hold me?_ ” she sneered “ _I am beyond a body_ ” she gloated

“You’re the hacker,” Alex realized “the one who tried to plug herself in”

“ _You’re pretty cleaver,_ ” Indigo commented “ _for a lunatic_ ” she added

“So, you’re in the system, now what?” Hank demanded, Indigo sighed as if he didn’t see what clearly in front of him

“ _Computers control everything these days,_ ” she began “ _cars, our phones….security doors,_ ” she grinned again “ _the age of chaos begins now. Enjoy_ ” the screen went blank just an alarm began to scream

“What is that?” Alex wondered

“That’s the security alarm,” Hank realized, he turned to Winn “I need you to pull up the security cameras on the fourth floor, now!”

“Got it,” Winn nodded as an image of a hallway appeared on the screen. Slowly, one by one, the doors lining either side of the hall began to open “oh my god” Winn whispered

“If Indigo’s got access to the locks…” Lucy began

“…she could let every dangerous patient on the fourth floor out,” Alex finished “oh no,” she suddenly her stomach drop away “Astra”

“Move over” Hank nudged Winn aside and began typing, instantly alarms began to ring

“ _Attention,_ ” an automated voice suddenly announced on the PA “ _the building is now on lockdown. No one may leave the premises”_


	13. The Crazies, Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update time for "Of Sound Mind", enjoy! :=)

******

“You’re locking us in?!” Winn demanded as the alarm quieted, the distant sound of doors slamming filling the air

“We _cannot_ let those patients get out,” Hank stated firmly “you just saw yourself how… _deranged_ they are, you know from personal experience, Mr. Schott. The reason that Indigo is in here is not just because she thinks she is a computer but because she was arrested only after she hacked into National City’s traffic lights and caused multiple accidents, including two fatalities” 

“Then why wasn’t she sent to prison?” Alex wondered “Winn, can you pull up that account information again?”

“Yeah, give me a second,” he began typing again “got it”

“OK,” Alex leaned over his shoulder “right there!” she pointed “look, the federal grant isn’t just given every year, it’s also based on how many new patients are _admitted_ every year. Damn it!”

“Its worse,” Lucy announced “according to this, the amount of the grant depends on how hard it’ll be to treat each patient, how much money the hospital will need to spend hiring new doctors and nurses, for example. So, if you fill the hospital with people who’ll probably never be cured and don’t bother hiring any new doctors to try and cure them…”

“…then you could just live off the extra grant money” Kara snarled

“And all the while dozens of horribly sick people don’t get any help,” Alex muttered, she stood up suddenly “stay here”

“Alex!” Hank warned “Astra can take care of herself”

“Maybe,” Alex agreed “but not against an entire floor of dangerous people” she pointed out

“A whole floor of dangerous people who will probably try to attack you, or _worse_ , if you go up there,” Kara countered “we don’t even know if she’s up there, she could be anywhere in the hospital right now”

“Yeah,” Winn agreed “here, let’s see where she is,” he started typing again but then there was a crackle of static and the lights suddenly out, plunging the room into darkness for a moment before the emergency lighting kicked in “OK, that’s not good” Winn muttered

“Indigo must’ve gotten into the power grid” Lucy muttered

“That settles it, I’m going” Alex snarled

“Alex,” she turned to see Hank holding out a flashlight “be careful” he warned

“Always am,” she grinned “Kara, stay with these guys, please?”

“Got it, sis” Kara grinned

"Winn, keep trying to get those accounts back, we're going to need them"

"On it" he called out as she ran out into the hall...

******

With the power seeming out throughout the entire building, the elevators were a lost cause. Trying one of the doors leading into a stairwell, Alex slowly made her way up to the third floor, slipping out to check around, finding that, thankfully, most of the patients were already in their rooms, and the ones that weren’t were being escorted there by a small gaggle of nurses and orderlies. She jerked to a stop at the sight of Maggie amongst the group of patients, cringing at the glazed looked in the other woman’s eyes as she shuffled along, clearly under the influence of a lot of drugs. Still cringing, she slipped past the group and up the stairwell leading up the fourth floor, pausing at the door as she heard was sounded like an angry mob on the other side.

Slowly, taking a breath, she put her hand on the handle, turned off the flashlight, and _slowly_ pushed the door open. On the other side she found that the door opened up onto the same area she’d seen when Astra had taken her up, a group of doctors and nurses had apparently barricaded themselves inside the security station as the patients, Indigo included, tried to break in, reminding Alex of an old zombie movie as they pounded on the glass, many screaming obscenities as they did. Squinting, Alex could see Astra among the group inside the booth, wincing as the glass began to splinter

 _’Great, what do I do?’_ she thought _’all I got is a flashlight’_ she frowned and looked around, grinning she eased a little bit out of the doorway and aimed the flashlight as the glass, turning it on. The mob, turned, spotting her. With a roar she lunged, swinging out with flashlight like a club, aiming for any body part she could reach, these people were crazy, but Alex was _furious_ , furious at Lillian Luthor for stealing money that should have gone to help these people, furious at her for milking Eliza and dozens of other families out of their hard-earned money, but most of all, furious at her for putting Astra in here, tossing her to the proverbial wolves

“COME ON!!!” she screamed, not really knowing if she was screaming at Astra and the others to make their escape or at the ravenous mob around her. With a crash, she saw Astra suddenly burst out of the booth, swinging a chair back and forth like some lion tamer

“THIS WAY!!” she bellowed, the rest of her group suddenly broke free and rushed for the stairwell, all but diving through the door “come on, hero!” Alex grunted as Astra grabbed her arm and pulled her through the door, slamming it shut behind her even as the patients banged on it from the other side as the rest of the group made their escape down the stairs, leaving Alex and Astra alone on the landing

Astra suddenly whirled on her

“What the fuck were you _thinking_?!” she demanded

“I was thinking of getting you out of the Zoo!!” Alex snapped

“Damn it! Alex! You are _not_ a secret agent! It is not your job to look out for me! It is _my_ job to look out for you!!”

“I know that!”

“Then why did you go off like some cowboy?!”

“BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!!!!” Alex finally screamed, she took a ragged breath “I saw the security cameras, the doors up here opening, and…all I could think about was getting you out of here, I had, I _needed_ to make sure that you were all right, and then…I saw you trapped in there and I just…saw _red_ ,” she stared down at her hands, feeling the dried blood and the torn skin without having to see them clearly “I just knew I had to get you out of there” she repeated

“ _Oh, Alex,_ ” Astra sighed, softly reaching out to pull her close “oh, you stupid, brave girl” she whispered into her hair. A loud bang at the door startled them

“We need to go” Alex realized

“Yeah,” Astra grunted as they turned and began to take the stairs two at a time “there’s something going on up there” she muttered

“Yeah, no kidding”

“No, I mean it,” Astra insisted “they’re giving the patients some kind of drug, something I’ve never even heard of, something new”

Alex stopped

“Are you saying that they’re… _experimenting_ on them?” she wondered

“I don’t know!” Astra threw up her hands in clear frustration “but whatever they’re doing isn’t normal”

Alex frowned, slowly turning this new information over in her mind, she may not have been a government agent, but she was good at puzzles

“How much do drug companies pay to test out new drugs?” she asked

“A lot, it’s a multibillion dollar industry”

“And what would happen if a drug failed?”

“If it fails, then the pharmaceutical companies stand to lose a pretty bundle. Why? What’s that got to do with the Romero movie up there?”

“Kara and I just found evidence that Lillian Luthor is embezzling from the hospital”

Astra stopped, staring at her

“Alex, not that I don’t believe you, but that’s a very serious allegation, you’d better have some rock-solid evidence to back it up”

“I do,” Alex nodded "now, if she's embezzling, whose to say that she's not also taking a kickback from Big Pharm? you said it yourself, if a drug fails the company loses money, and I know for a fact that drug trials cost money, so..."

"...so maybe the company's paying her to dose the patients with whatever new cocktail they've come up with" Astra finished, there was a loud bang then pounding footsteps from above them

“Shit!”

“GO!” Astra ordered…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost near the end here folks! :=)


	14. The Crazies, Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm back! And I'm front! We're both here! And so is "Of Sound Mind"!! Enjoy! :=)

******

Alex and Astra both burst out of the stairwell door on the second floor at near full speed, slamming the door shut

“That won’t hold them” Astra panted out as they sprinted down the darkened halls

“I know” Alex agreed as they ducked into a darkened room, both of them hunkering down and holding their breath as the shuffling footsteps of the fourth floor patients came closer. Both women held each other close as the footsteps paused and then moved on, shuffling on down the hall

They both breathed two shakily sighs of relief

“That was _way too_ fucking close” Astra scowled

“Yeah,” Alex panted out, she looked down at their joined hands “Astra…” she began, Astra turned, also looking down at their joined hands before looking up at Alex’s face and then swiftly closing the gap between them in a quick kiss which made Alex’s head spin in an oh so pleasant way “not that I’m complaining,” she panted out as Astra pulled away “but, what was that for?”

“In case we don’t make it out of here,” Astra explained “I just wanted you to know that…that I love you too,” she confessed, she chuckled bitterly “I think I fell in love with from the moment I saw you, do you remember?”

“I remember about twenty nurses holding me down as I screamed and cursed because that bitch Lillian reassigned Hank” Alex recalled, Astra chuckled

“It was your fire that drew me in,” she explained “even under a paranoid delusion I could see that fire, that passion of yours”

“Aren’t we a pair?” Alex chuckled “a paranoid schizophrenic and an ex-hippie-turned-psychiatrist whose broken every rule in the book by falling for said paranoid schizophrenic”

“Hey,” Astra objected “some of the world’s greatest love stories were mismatched pairs, Bonnie and Clyde, Romeo and Juliet, Mark Antony and Cleopatra”

“Dead and both criminals, not real and also dead, adulteress and, again, also dead” Alex pointed out

“OK, bad example, but my point is---” Astra stopped mid-sentence as the lights suddenly flickered back on

“Winn must’ve gotten the power back on” Alex realized

“Winn? Toyman’s son? You brought that poor guy into this?” Astra demanded as they slipped out their hiding place and hurried towards Hank’s office

“Yeah, we needed someone who could hack into Lillian’s files, and he offered” Alex explained

“Oh, great, so uncover one crime by committing another, gee, why didn’t I think of that?” Astra grumbled

“It’s not like she’d said ‘yes’ if we asked nicely”

“I know, but you may have tainted your evidence now,” Astra pointed out “the courts might throw it out if they find out that it was obtained illegally”

“What are you a lawyer now?”

“No, but my sister was a law student”

Alex blinked

“I didn’t know you have a sister”

“I don’t,” Astra answered, her face fell “not anymore. There was a fire and well…”

“Oh”

“Yeah”

“I’m sorry”

“Thanks,” turning the corner the two women skidded to a stop as the lights flickered out again “well, there goes that,” Astra muttered as Alex turned on the flashlight, both of them tensed as two other women blocked their path. One was thin with dark hair, the other frighteningly pale with platinum blonde hair “and now it gets worse” Astra muttered

“Do you know who they are?” Alex hissed as they held their ground

“Leslie Willis and Siobhan Smythe” Astra nodded

“And _why_ are they here?” Alex hissed

“Siobhan hears voices, she thinks she’s been cursed by a banshee”

“And Leslie?” Alex wondered

“Pyromania, and obsessed with killing her former boss, tried to electrocute the woman”

“Great”

“Going somewhere?” Leslie Willis chuckled as she and Siobhan began to circle the two

“We could have some fun,” Siobhan added, she twitched “maybe play a game?”

“I like games,” Leslie added, she smirked, wide and predatorily at the two “ever play…’electrician’?”

Astra’s fist suddenly lashed out, connecting with Leslie’s jaw, while Alex swung out with the flashlight she still clutched in her hand, even as Siobhan leapt at her like some kind of wild animal

“ _ **RUN!!**_ ” she bellowed at Astra as Siobhan began to wrap her hands around her throat, trying to strangle

“HEY!!” there was a blast of cold air as Astra sprayed the two fourth floor patients with a fire extinguisher, before swinging it out at a them each like a club, knocking them both senseless “come on!” she roughly hauled Alex to her feet and began to run down the hall, skidding to a stop as more patients blocked their path “other way! Other way!” Astra urged her back and around the corner towards Hank’s office, both of them frantically pounding on the door as soon as they reached it, even as Leslie and Siobhan and two other patients advanced on them

“Hank! It’s us!” Alex hollered, there was a distant thump and the door opened

“Get inside!” Kara urged “hurry!” they both slipped inside

“Help us!” Lucy barked out, Alex and Astra both gathered next to the other around the heavy desk and helped to shove it against the door, barricading themselves in

“OK, they’re going to get reinforcements, you know that, right?” Winn panted out, even as the foursome outside began to pound on the door, before quieting

“Winn! Focus!” Lucy snapped

“Did you get those documents back?” Alex asked

“Yeah,” he panted “I managed to e-mail them just before Indigo, whatshername got back into the system,” he ran a hand through his hair “shouldn’t the police be showing up anytime now?” he wondered

“We’re outside city limits,” Hank explained “the system does send a signal to the NCPD,” he confirmed “but, it’ll take time for them to get here”

“Time we don’t have” Kara sighed

“Hang on,” Alex held up her hands “Winn, you e-mailed the documents? Who’d you e-mail them to?”

“Everyone,” Winn explained “the FBI, NCPD, SEC, the American Medical Association, along with CatCo Worldwide Media, and even the _National Enquirer_ ”

“Oh, real world-class journalism there,” Astra scoffed “now, does anyone have a plan as to how we get _out of here?_ ”

“We need to get the patients back upstairs to the fourth floor” Kara sighed

“But how do we do that?” Alex groaned

“There are tranquilizer guns in the storage locker on the fourth floor,” Astra began “if we could get a hold of them, we could just tranq them and sort it out later”

“Great,” Alex nodded “any idea as how we get them?”

“We go back” Astra sighed, she gave Alex a look

“Oh god…”

******

“Remind me again why I agreed to let myself be talked into this?” Alex hissed as she, Astra, Hank, and Kara all crept up the stairwell to the fourth floor, while Lucy and Winn stayed down on the first floor with most of the other staff and tried to make sure the fourth floor patients didn’t break out. Getting out of Hank’s office had been a nerve wracking experience, but they’d managed by throwing various objects around the office at the foursome outside and then running like hell in different directions. Not the most dignified of escapes, but it had worked

“Because you want to get out of here as much as I do” Astra explained, Alex grumbled out a noncommittal answer

“Hey, here’s something I’ve been wondering,” she began, frowning thoughtfully “where the heck is Lillian Luthor right now, anyway? Shouldn’t she be holed up in her office jabbering to the police right now?”

“Mrs. Luthor is out to a benefit dinner right now, soliciting donations” Hank explained

“You mean lining up new marks” Astra sneered

“Yep” Kara nodded

"Shouldn't she be aware of the lockdown though?" Alex wondered

"Well," Astra began "I suppose that she probably has some sort of system in place, where she's e-mailed or texted about the lockdown, but aside from that, she's probably just enjoying her thousand-dollar food" they stopped at the door to the fourth floor. Quietly pushing it open they peered around the now-empty security area. The hall looked as if a riot had torn through it, most of the lights had been either torn out completely or left dangling from the ceiling, flickering. The walls had been gouged and pockmarked with dents

“Looks like World War Three kicked off in here” Alex noted

“Pretty much,” Astra nodded, she held up her flashlight “storage locker’s down here,” she whispered. Carefully, the group made their way down the hall, cautious of the shadows “here it is” Astra whispered a few minutes later, holding her flashlight up to a door with ‘FOURTH FLOOR STORAGE LOCKER’ on it

“Fuck” Alex swore, nodding towards the electronic lock

“Well, great, now what?” Kara hissed

“Wait, I think I got it” Alex quickly typed in six-six-seven-zero-pound, the lock beeped and then opened

“How’d you do that?” Astra wondered

“I figured Lillian might be cheap enough just to use the same code for every lock in the building” Alex shrugged

“Looks like you were right” Hank noted as he and Astra loaded two tranquilizer rifles

“Here, take it this” Alex blinked as Astra handed her a rifle

“What? What you mean shoot it?” she demanded

“No, I meant take it out on a date, you know, a nice dinner, maybe some wine. Of course I meant shoot it,” Astra shut the door “idiot”

“Oh, she’s not the only one” they all spun to see Indigo standing there

“It’s over, Indigo,” Kara called out “you’ve lost, just accept it”

“Lost?” Indigo repeated, her lips twisted in a sneer “gods don’t lose” she hissed

“Oh, let’s just shoot her” Astra raised the tranquilizer gun

“Ah-ah,” Indigo held up an iPhone “if I don’t enter a password in the next…two minutes, a virus gets sent throughout the entire mainframe of the hospital, opening every door in the building”

Alex and Astra exchanged a look

“Shoot her?” Astra asked

“Shoot her” Alex nodded. In a lighting quick move; Astra raised the rifle and fired. Indigo jerked back, slowly plucking the dart from her leg, staring at it

“Did you really think that could stop me?” she asked “I am beyond a body,” she hissed “I am beyond time and space, I am—”

“Shutting up!” Alex swung her fist out, soundly punching Indigo across the jaw. She flopped against the wall with a groan before sliding to the floor “didn’t know gods had glass jaws” Alex grumbled, picking up the fallen iPhone, which was displaying a timer that was quickly counting down “OK, any magic guesses on her password?” she wondered

“No” Astra stated

“Nada” Kara added

“Somehow, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that,” Hank commented, he nodded out the window “take a look” as the rest of the group watched a row of police cars rolled up, offices in full riot gear emerging and forming a human wall outside the main entrance

“The cavalry’s finally here,” Astra sighed “late as usual” she grumbled. In the distance, they could hear the sound of tear gas canisters exploding as a SWAT team moved in and began to quell the attempted mass escape

“It’s over” Alex sighed

“No,” Astra began grimly “it’s not. Not by a long shot…”


	15. Unbound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Enjoy

******

In the end it took almost a full hour for the NCPD to finally quell the fourth floor patients, all two hundred of them, but finally, at around five AM, the watch commander declared a code four, all the fourth floor patients were in custody, and the rest of the patients and staff were either receiving first aid from paramedics, or being transferred to nearby hospitals. Despite the violence of the riot, no one had died, although many of the doctors and other staff had been badly beaten

Alex winced as a paramedic gently prodded at a cut above her eye

“You’re lucky,” he commented as he applied a bandage “a few inches lower and you might’ve lost the eye”

“Good to hear” she commented as she looked around the crowd of doctors and nurses for a familiar face, spotting Hank deep in conversation in Nurse Vasquez

“What the heck happened here, anyway?” the EMT wondered

“A bunch of very sick people who didn’t get proper treatment got mad”

“Damn”

“Yep,” she touched the bandage “I’m good?”

“You’re good,” he nodded “but you should go to the ER if you—”

“…start to feel funny, I know,” she gave the young man a smile “thanks”

“No problem” he nodded. Getting up off the bench, Alex merely stood there, watching as EMTs and police buzzed around the hospital like bees in a beehive

“Hey” she turned to see Astra come up beside her

“Hey,” she smiled back; she frowned when Astra didn’t return the smile “what’s wrong?”

“I got a peek at Lillian’s files before the cops took them away,” Astra explained “turns out we were right, they _were_ using the fourth floor patients like lab rat. They were giving them something called ‘corplex’, its supposed to be this new wonder drug,” she chuckled bitterly “want to know what its for?” she asked, Alex nodded “it’s a weight lose pill,” she chuckled humorlessly “they were using people like lab rats for a _weight lose pill_ ”

“Fucking hell,” Alex swore “there’s more, isn’t there?” she asked, Astra nodded

“Apparently, according to the files I read, corplex has an interesting side-effect. Apparently, it works by curbing the appetite—you don’t have an appetite, you don’t eat, you don’t eat, you don’t gain weight—but, apparently, in patients with depression or a history of mental illness, it causes a chemical imbalance in the brain, causing an _increase_ in the frequency of delusions”

“So, if people who already unstable took it…” Alex began

“…then they’re delusions might increase to the point of full-blown psychosis,” Astra nodded “there’s more. It looks like that small doses of corplex was given to the third floor patients, not enough to cause psychosis, but enough to counteract the effects of their normal drugs”

It took Alex a moment to figure this out

“Astra, are you saying that… _I’ve_ been dosed with this stuff?”

“It certainly looks that way,” Astra nodded “from what I saw, they’ve been giving you and the other Class C patients small doses, on and off, for the past twelve years, just enough so that…”

“…we’d all fail an exam to see if we were ready to be released,” Alex finished grimly “I feel…violated”

“You should” Astra hissed, they both turned as a sleek, expensive car pulled up, Lillian Luthor herself climbing out

“Dr, Inze, what is going here?” she demanded, Alex watched as Astra swiftly marched over to her

“How much did they pay you?” she demanded “hmm? What’s the price of human sanity, Lillian? When do people become nothing more than things for you to use?”

“What are you talking about?” Lillian demanded

“I saw the accounts,” Astra stated “I saw the corplex files”

Lillian smirked

“If you think that I’m going to confess to embezzlement and illegal human experimentation in a crowd of police, you’re dead wrong,” she hissed “I can have you’re license pulled faster than you can say ‘breach of ethics’,” she gave Alex a pointed look over Astra’s shoulder “after all I wasn’t sleeping a patient”

“You know,” Kara said suddenly as she, Winn, and Lucy came over “I’m betting that you’re going to have trouble with that, especially seeing as how you’ll be the one before a grand jury”

“What are you talking about?” Lillian demanded

Astra smirked and held up her phone

 _“If you think that I’m going to confess to embezzlement and illegal human experimentation in a crowd of police, you’re dead wrong”_ Lillian’s voice came out loud and clear

Lillian’s eyes widened

“What do you want?” she hissed

“Oh, not much,” Astra rocked back on her heels, her sneakers squeaking “world peace, the opportunity to see you rot in a federal jail cell for all eternity, you know, little stuff”

“Mrs. Luthor?” a detective came over “could we speak to you for a moment?” he asked

“Uh, Detective?” Astra held up her phone “would you listen to this for me please? I think you’ll find it very interesting” she played the recording again, watching as the man’s eyes widened

“I think you’ll also find detailed files on embezzlement have been e-mailed to both the NCPD and various major media outlets” Hank picked up

“Mrs. Luthor, would you come with me, please?” the detective requested, Alex bit back a laugh as a stammering Lillian was swiftly led away

“Astra,” Alex stared at her “that was really, really…sneaky”

“I try” Astra chuckled

“Hang on,” Kara frowned “what does this mean for the rest of the patients?”

“Well, seeing as how they were drugged, we can’t take their past exams as true,” Hank explained, he smirked “but I think, that in Alex’s case anyway, she should be free to go home as soon as possible”

“What? Seriously?” Alex asked

“You’ll probably have to appear before the hospital’s board of directors—assuming that they aren’t taking kickbacks from Lillian—but, yes, I think that you can leave right now in fact” he explained

“I can leave” Alex whispered, she let out a giddy laugh

“There’s more,” Astra smiled “once you leave, I won’t be your doctor anymore”

Alex stared at her, grinning as she realized what it meant

“So, you and I? We can…?” she stopped

“Let’s have dinner first and go from there” Astra suggested with a grin, with a happy whoop Alex threw her arms around Astra’s neck, holding her close

“I’m going on date!” Alex giggled as she pulled away “I…I’ll have to get a job”

“We’ll help you with that,” Kara promised, grinning, she nodded towards Astra “now, go ahead and kiss her already”

Grinning, Alex yanked Astra close and kissed her for all she was worth…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more to go :=)


	16. Epilouge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Triple update!

******

**One year later…**

“OK, who should I make out it to?” Alex asked as she readied her pen

“Uh, to Sally” the teenager stammered out nervously, Alex smiled

“To Sally, best wishes, Alex,” she closed the book cover and handed it back to the girl “there you go” the girl beamed and happily bounced off. Alex sighed and leaned back in her chair, setting up the sign that read ‘ON BREAK’. Getting up she rolled her shoulders and worked out the kinks.

In the year since the fourth floor breakout, a lot of things had happened, Cadmus had been closed down for one, with the fourth floor patients being transferred to other, more secured facilities, the hospital’s former director, Lillian Luthor, now serving a life-sentence behind bars for embezzlement and illegal human experimentation. The drug company that made corplex, Lord Pharmaceuticals, had been forced to pay heavy fines, to the point of eventually having to declare bankruptcy.

As for, the ‘gang’ as Winn called them, they had all become friends, Hank and Kara had gone into the private sector, opening up a small clinic that specialized in treating people with conditions like Alex’s, offering Astra a job as soon as they opened, which Astra had accepted, and her Myriad Process was already the standard method of treatment for the clinic, and Kara was now well on her way to becoming a doctor.

Lucy, meanwhile, had retired from nursing, she and Winn had quietly gotten married in small, simple civil ceremony which Alex and Astra had been witnesses to along with Kara and her husband, and had opened up a small, but successful, comic book store (apparently, Lucy was a closet nerd, who knew) called _‘Star-Spangled Comix’_ , with Winn making a little extra on the side as a freelance troubleshooter for fellow computer programmers.

As for Alex, she had managed to turn her delusion into a job. Even though she knew that what she had experienced wasn’t real, the memories were still there, fresh and clear, looking over the notes she’d scribbled down while under Astra’s care, she realized that she actually had enough material for a book or a graphic novel.

With Kara’s help as an illustrator, and Winn and Lucy’s help in printing and distributing it, the first issue of _”Supergirl”_ hit stands earlier this year

It sold out in its first week, with dozens of fans, mostly young women who liked having a superhero that they could relate to, forming an enthusiastic following

Now, what had been intended to be just a one-off was now entering its one hundredth issue, _”Redemption”_ , where the villainous alien warlord ‘General Astra’ had surrendered to the heroic ‘DEO’

“Hey, how’s it going?” Lucy asked Alex leaned against the counter

“Incredible,” Alex sighed “I mean, they’re already talking about giving me a Nebula Award”

“Hey, you earned it,” Lucy encouraged “if anything you deserve an award for you’re twelve year stint in Cadmus”

Alex shuddered

“Hey,” Lucy nudged her “smile, your girlfriend’s here”

Turning, Alex grinned and waved as Astra walked inside, sneakers squeaking as she approached

“Hi” Alex greeted

“Hi,” Astra smirked, she looked around the room “looks like you got a full house,” she commented “are all of these people here for the signing?”

“Yep,” Lucy nodded “ _Supergirl_ is a big hit, people want to meet the genus behind it,” she explained “its even more impressive when they find out that she’s a recovering mental patient, makes people feel like _‘if she can get past it, so can I’_ ”

“That’s a good philosophy,” Astra nodded, she turned to Alex “well now, would the highly-successful author Alex Danvers like to accompany me for lunch?”

“Yes,” Alex took Astra’s hand “yes, she would”

“Good” and as she let Astra lead her outside Alex had never felt so utterly, completely, and truly

Free

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! The end "Of Sound Mind", I want to thank everybody who stayed with me on this and who offered kudos, comments and general support for this truly strange idea :=), I hope everybody enjoyed it, especially snow_lily, and I hope that you'll all stay with me for more General Danvers fics and even my original works
> 
> Thanks again
> 
> AXEe


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